Art imitates classic literature in production of ‘Les Mis'

Sunday

Jul 14, 2013 at 4:00 AM

Twins Clancy and Samantha Penny, along with Clarke MacDonald, are excited, with good reason. These three members of the Flat Rock YouTheatre have been cast in pivotal roles in Flat Rock Playhouse's production of "Les Miserables".

By Katie WinklerTimes-News Correspondent

Twins Clancy and Samantha Penny, along with Clarke MacDonald, are excited, with good reason. These three members of the Flat Rock YouTheatre have been cast in pivotal roles in Flat Rock Playhouse's production of "Les Miserables" by Claude-Michel Schonberg, Alain Boublil and Herbert Kretzmer, one of the longest-running and most beloved musicals of all time. These children, at once typical preteens and mature beyond their years, have seen the movie, memorized the music, studied the history and worked hard in rehearsals. According to all three of these young actors, they're getting the education of their lives from teachers such as Rob Evan, playing the lead of Jean Valjean, and director Vincent Marini, artistic director of the Playhouse, as well as the entire cast and crew, made up of seasoned professionals and young apprentices. Because "Les Miserables" is based on Victor Hugo's classic novel of forgiveness and redemption set against the backdrop of the short-lived Rebellion of 1832, the children are learning a great deal of history they don't normally receive in school. Clancy, playing the Young Cosette alternately with her sister Samantha, says she studies primarily North Carolina history in school. Samantha agrees, saying, "I learn so much history I never studied in school. I wish I could do theater all year long." Clarke, playing the role of Gavroche, echoes the twins' feelings. "That's one of the cool things about being home-schooled," he said. "I learn so much."They not only learn about history and literature. Clarke ticks off the theater skills he's learning, including lighting, set design, choreography, singing and blocking. "A show wouldn't be anything without blocking," he says knowingly. All three play poor children in France during the difficult time after the first deposing of Napoleon, so they must disguise their healthy young faces for the show, learning a great deal about stage makeup. Clarke explains that the makeup artist takes a cork, burns it and spreads the ash on the faces of the actors. Samantha tells how gel is put on her hair to make it look unkempt and dirty. She also works hard keeping her skin pale. In the play, she says, "I'm sick and it's winter, but it's really summer, and I like to swim. I have to wear a lot of sunscreen." Despite taking obvious childlike delight in all the proceedings, including synchronized effects such as flashes, booms, smoke and blood spatter, all three of the children take their acting roles seriously. Clancy even wipes away a tear when discussing her role as Young Cosette, singing the beautiful lament "A Castle in a Cloud." She says, "I imagine a castle in the distance where her mother is, but she'll never see her. It's so sad. She's treated like a slave." Her sister imagines the character similarly. Cossette, she says, "is a poor little girl with barely any clothing, all rags, but thinking she's a princess and so beautiful."Clarke sees his character as a boy caught up in a man's world. "He wants to be like the revolutionists," he says. "He's right with all the students during the blockade when they have to go into the streets to get ammunition from the bodies." Just as their characters in the play take strength from those older and more experienced, so too do the children from the adult actors, especially Rob Evan, who has appeared in numerous lead roles in major musicals on Broadway. When his name is mentioned, the young actors talk over each other trying to get out the accolades. "He's amazing," Clarke says. The twins say Evan pretended he was related to them from the first rehearsal. The Broadway actor introduced himself and said, "I'm going to be your adopted dad."Evan comes prepared for his role as a protective father figure. He and his wife, Beate, whom he met early in his career while singing on a cruise ship, have three sons. He also has had experience working with children and young people on stage and while teaching master's classes across the country. He has found that despite the differences in ages, a troupe of actors can quickly become close during the rehearsal process. "You have all ages together, and everybody is acting like kids," he says. "You instantly bond." This bond becomes even stronger amid the weight of the material, which has a special meaning to all generations of actors, especially to Evan, whose life was changed when he saw a staging of "Les Miserables" at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta while studying at the University of Georgia. Although singing had been part of his life since childhood, Evan set aside any plans for a musical career when he started playing football as a kicker and punter for the Bulldogs under head coach Vince Dooley. The demands of football together with theater were too great, so Evan majored in business with plans to go to law school, but his love of music never left him. He even sang "Thanks for the Memories" at Dooley's retirement dinner, impressing the great coach with his singing ability. Then, as a senior, he was dating a girl whom he particularly wanted to impress, so he took her for a fine French dinner and then to a French musical, "Les Miserables." The power of the piece overwhelmed him. "It had me sobbing," he says, knowing he wanted to someday play the part of Jean Valjean. "I decided to give it a shot," he says. Law school would wait. Obviously, it is still waiting, and Valjean's enduring story has become an important part of Evan's life. "Each time I find something new," he says, speaking of his iconic character. Valjean "was always fighting that animal inside him," he says, until he finds a little girl, Cosette, and becomes her father. "That journey is the backbone of the musical." Having taken that journey for so many years, Evan offers to the show, as well as its cast and crew, not only the experience but the passion required for such a monumental piece, which is echoed in the voice and faces of the younger members of the cast. Samantha speaks of learning from the "experiences of different actors I get to work with — professionals, YouTheatre and apprentices."But in the end, it's the power of the story and its impact on generations of actors, directors and producers that creates a family out of virtual strangers and powerfully affects many who see "Les Miserables.""We see right and good," says second-year apprentice Catharine Kay. "We see the power of a second chance on stage."Katie Winkler, a member of the Dramatist Guild of America, teaches English composition, literature and creative writing at Blue Ridge Community College.

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